Liquid containers for a floor scrubber and polisher



y 1959 D. G. KOLAND ET AL 3,456,279

' LIQUID CONTAINERS FOR A FLQOR SCRUBBER AND POLISHER Filed Bay 3, 19672 Sheets-Sheet 1 88 FIGI Jury 22, 1969 KOLAND ET AL LIQUID CONTAINERSFOR A FLOOR SCRUBBER AND POLISHER 2 Shegts-Sheet 2:

Filed May FIGZ II 3. 1 r 5 w 2 o .11 v vil n 1 r l T I f A M 4 U m. I lI ll 1 H m 2 0 B v 3 N; H r i 3 m 41/..kli p I H 4.| H H 7/ 5 3L 5 l wUnited States Patent Oifice Patented July 22, 1969 3,456,279 LIQUIDCONTAINERS FOR A FLOOR SCRUBBER AND POLISHER David G. Koland, St. Paul,and James M. Robinson, White Bear Lake, Minn., assignors to WhirlpoolCorporation,

a corporation of Delaware Filed May 9, 1967, Ser. No. 637,174 Int. Cl.A471 11/16, 11/283 US. Cl. -320 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acombined floor scrubber and polisher apparatus including a casingadapted to contain liquid and including at least one rigid wall andhaving within the casing a plurality of containers each adapted tocontain a floor treating liquid and each having a filling conduitextending through the casing wall and attached thereto to providefilling access to the container and simultaneously secure the containerto the casing and each container having also a dispensing conduitextending through and attached to the casing wall also for securing thecontainer to the easing and simultaneously providing dispensing accessto the container, the preferred apparatus in addition having means fordrawing liquid such as soiled cleaning liquid from the floor into thecasing to surround the plurality of containers and with the containerspreferably being collapsible when not filled with a liquid.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED DISCLOSURES Schmitz et al. application Ser.No. 637,178, filed May 9, 1967 which discloses and claims the scrubberand polisher disclosed herein per se.

David K. Koland application Ser. No. 637,177, filed May 9, 1967 whichdiscloses and claims liquid dispensing controls including control valvesfor selectively dispensing each of a plurality of liquids from thescrubber and polisher, and

Pauler et a1. application Ser. No. 504,546, filed Oct. 24, 1965 (nowPatent No. 3,344,455) which relates to the motor drive for the brushes,with these applications being assigned to the same assignee as thepresent application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above Schmitz et a1. application and theKoland application there are disclosed and claimed, as indicated, theapparatus itself and the controls for dispensing the liquid. The presentinvention relates to the fluid containing portions of the apparatus Withthe plurality of liquids being dispensed from individual containers,preferably flexible and collapsible, held within a liquid proof casingwhich can itself contain liquid such as soiled washing solution drawn upas by suction from the floor after cleaning. In addition, the separatefluid filling and fluid dispensing conduits are used to anchor firmlyeach contairier to the casing and means are provided for venting theliquid in the casing that surrounds the containers as desired.

One embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a shortened front elevational view partially in section of acombination floor scrubber and polisher apparatus containing theinvention as disclosed in connection with one embodiment thereof in theother figures.

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along line22 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong line 44 of FIGURE 3.

The combination floor scrubber and polisher apparatus shown in theaccompanying drawings comprises a housing 10 having an open bottomdefined by a peripheral edge 11 around which is extended a bumper strip12. Rotatably mounted on opposite sides of the housing 10 are the twosides of a maneuvering bail 13 with each side rotatable about a pin 14.The pins 14 are held in the upper part of the housing 10 whichconstitutes a machinery enclosing hood 15.

Located within the bottom enlarged part 16 of the housing 10 are a pairof rotatable brushes 17 that are circular and arranged side-by-side. Thebrush bases 18 are each releasably held in a circular mounting 19 eachof which is provided on its outer periphery with gear teeth 20 and onits inner periphery with gear teeth 21.

The brushes 17 are driven by an electric motor 22 located within thehood 15. The motor 22 rotates a motor shaft 23 which has an outerhelical gear area 24. The gear 24 drives a circular helical gear 25 thatis mounted on a pinion shaft 26 for rotation therewith. Keyed to thepinion shaft 26 is a spur gear 26a which engages the inner teeth 21 ofone brush mounting 19. The outer gear teeth 20 of each brush mountingare inter-engaged so the brushes 17 are driven in opposite directions asis explained in greater detail in the above-mentioned Pauler et al.copending application. Each brush 17 is rotatably mounted about a shaft27 whose bottom is enclosed by a shaft shield 28.

The motor 22 is mounted on a cover 29 for a fan chamber 30 with thecover 29 being supported on a base 31. The top of the fan chamber 30 isdefined by the cover 29 and the bottom of the chamber is defined by awall 32. The wall 32 is provided with a fan inlet opening (not shown) tothe fan 34 that is within the chamber 30. The fan 34 is mounted on themotor shaft 23 for rotation therewith.

As is disclosed in the above Schmitz et a1. application the apparatusprovides for vacuum means drawing liquid from the surface being cleanedand emptying it into the casing 51. This fluid moving suction meansincludes the fan 34 and has an outlet 46 that connects to a corrugatedtube 47 which is arranged vertically within the hood 15. The upper endof the tube 47 is connected to the lower end of a hollow tube bracket 48that has a vertical passage 49 therein that receives fluid from the tube47. The bracket 48 and thus the upper end of the inlet tube 47 are heldby the top of the bail 13.

' The tube bracket 48 is located within a base 50 for a casing means 51that comprises an enclosing casing body '52 closed on its upper end by atop 53.

Located at the upper end of the tube bracket 48 is a valve cover 54.This valve cover 54 is provided with a sealing gasket 55 that extendsover a trough 56 formed as a part of the tube bracket 48. The trough 56is adapted to receive liquid in a manner to be described hereinafter byway of an overlying trough 57 that forms a part of the valve cover 54.

Communicating with the passage 49 in the bracket 48 to receive fluidstherefrom is a vertically arranged inlet tube 58 located within thecasing body 52 and having its lower end sealed to the base 50 by agasket 101. The upper end of this tube 58 is sealingly held by a ledge59 located at the top of the casing body 52. The ledge 59 which has asealing gasket 60 that supports and seals the upper end of the tube 58also carries a short vertical tube'61 that is aligned with tube 58 andextends thereabove to receive fluid therefrom.

Extending downwardly from the inner surface of the 3 casing top 53 is abarrier wall 62 that has its bottom below the top of the short top tube61. Wall 62 changes the direction of air-water flow and thereby aids inseparating the water from the air.

At the top of the casing 51 and at the front thereof opposite the shortupper tube 61 there are provided fluid outlet means in the form of aplurality of openings 65 that are above the inclined baflie 63.

The casing body 52 is liquid proof and houses the container 110 forwaxing solution and a second container 111 for detergent or othercleaning solution. Although only two containers 110 and 111 are shown,it is of course obvious that as many may be provided as desired witheach containing a separate floor treating liquid. The containers 110 and111 are preferably made of a flexible plastic material and arepreferably collapsible when partially or completely empty. Any plasticmaterial that has sutficient strength to hold the liquid and that is notattacked by the liquid or its ingredients may be used.

The container 110 is provided with a generally cylindrical fillingconduit 112 that has its inner end attached to the container bag 110 ina peripheral area 113 around a filling opening 114. This peripheral area113 may be attached by any means desired, such as heat scaling, to theconduit 112.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the conduit 112 extends through and is sealed tothe base 50 of the casing body 52. This conduit 112 has an annularshoulder 115 retained on top of the base 50 and sealed thereto and isdrawn tightly thereagainst by a threaded collar 116 threaded to theouter surface of the conduit 112 and bearing against the other or bottomside of the base 50. In order to provide filling access to the container110 a threaded cap 117 is provided on the lower end thereof or the endbeneath the base 50.

The container 110 is also provided with a dispensing conduit 118attached to the bag 110 in the same manner as is the conduit 112 andalso extending downwardly through the base 50. Flow through thisdispensing conduit 118 is controlled by a valve 119 disclosed in greaterdetail and claimed in the above-identified Koland application.

With this arrangement the two conduits 112 and 118 not only provideliquid flow access into and out of the container 110 but also providemeans for anchoring the container to the base 50 which constitutes onewall of the casing 52. It should be noted that because the conduits 112and 118 are laterally spaced they provide firm anchoring of the bag 110to the base.

The second container 111 which can be used for detergent or othercleaning solution is similarly provided with a filling conduit 120having an access cap 121 and a dispensing conduit 122 spaced from theconduit 120. the conduits 120 and 122 are constructed and mountedsimilarly to the conduits 112 and 118 for the bag 110. Dispensingconduit 122 is also provided with a valve 123 similar to the valve 119.

The valves 119 and 123 are operated by a control rod 78 positionedwithin an upwardly extending hollow handle 72 that is provided at itsupper end with a hand grip 73.

The outer end of the rod 78 is provided with a knob 83 which may begrasped to move the rod into engagement with either a first notch 84 ora second notch 85 that are laterally spaced apart and formed in theopening 79 in the hinged operating lever 80. When the rod 78 is in onenotch 84 the rod is in position to open one valve. When the projectingend of the control rod 78 is moved laterally from the position shown inFIGURE 1 to the other notch 85 the rod 78 is in position to open theother valve. These details are shown more fully in the above Kolandapplication and are claimed therein.

At the rear of the upper end of the handle 72 there is located a speedcontrol switch (not shown) operated by a control knob 88 at the front ofthe handle 72 so that the motor 22 and thus the fan 34 and brushes 17can be rotated at any of a plurality of preselected speeds desired.

Each of the valves 119 and 123 when opened provides for liquid flowtherethrough into the trough 57. From this trough the liquid flows downinto a lower trough 56 through passage 57a and from there into a liquiddispenser tube 92 through opening 56a. This tube 92 comprises a commonliquid conduit from both the above-mentioned sources of liquid anddirects liquid through a pair of outlets 98 (only one of which is shownhere) which cooperate with brushes 17, as described in theaboveidentified Schmitz et al. application. Each outlet 98 is adapted todirect the liquid flowing therethrough within the peripheral confines ofa brush 17.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows. The motor 22 is energizedat the desired speed by the control knob 88 and rotation of the motorrotates the pair of brushes 17 in opposite directions.

Valve 123 is opened by control rod 78 so that cleaning liquid flows fromits collapsible container 111 through outlets 98 into the rotatingbrushes 17. The combination of the cleaning liquid and the rotatingbrush serves to clean the floor.

At the conclusion of the cleaning operation the fan 34 rotated by therotating motor 22 draws cleaning liquid from the floor into the fanchamber 30 by way of a nozzle structure (not shown) which is disclosedin detail in the above Schmitz et a1. application. The fan forces theliquid up the outlet tube 47 by way of the outlet 46 to which the buttomend of this tube is connected. From the upper end of the outlet tube 47the rotating fan 34 forces the fixture of soiled cleaning liquid and airup through the tube passage 49, through the container inlet tube 58 andout the top of the short upper tube 61. From the top of this tube 61 thecleaning liquid overflows to fall onto the top surface of the inclinedbafile 63. In the meantime the air is separated from the overflowingliquid and escapes into the atmosphere by way of the fluid openings 65.

The casing 51 which now contains the used cleaning liquid forced intothe casing by the suction fan, as described, may be removed by way of abottom sump drain means 124 extending downwardly from the casing base 50and normally closed by a removable closure cap 125 at the rear of thecasing, or by dumping it out of the fluid openings 65.

After the cleaning liquid has been removed from the floor to the desireddegree, in the manner just described the control rod 78 is arcuatelymoved about its longitudinal axis by grasping the knob 83 and moving itfrom the notch to the notch 84, as shown in FIGURE 1. The lever 80 isagain rotated to lift the rod 78 and open valve 119 to dispense polishliquid from its bag 110.

Liquid polish is fed through the open valve 119 into the peripheralconfines of the rotating brushes 17 in the same manner as the previouslydescribed cleaning liquid. Thus the polish liquid flows from itscollapsible container into the rotating brushes which spread the polishon the floor in the customary manner.

As can be seen from the above description, the combined floor scrubberand polisher is a self-contained unit that performs four operations.Thus, it functions as a floor scrubber where the rotating brushes scrubthe floor while the cleaning liquid is being dispensed. It alsofunctions to dry the floor as it is used for picking up excess liquidfrom the floor. Then it functions as a waxer or polish applicator whenthe rotating brushes spread the liquid polish or wax over the floor.Then, as a fourth operation, the rotating brushes with both liquidvalves closed can be used to apply a high gloss to the polish coveredfloor.

Actual tests have shown that the apparatus of this invention effects aconsiderable saving in time and energy. Thus in one test the apparatusof this invention required only one and a half hours to scrub and wax afloor 13 feet by 18 feet while to scrub and wax the same floor withconventional equipment required three and a half hours or over twice aslong.

Furthermore, tests have proven that there is substantially lessinterruption of normal floor traflic because with this apparatus thefloor can be cleaned and the floor dried immediately by the picking upof the excess liquid. Furthermore, the apparatus is very efiicient asthe two liquid dispensers including the collapsible bags can be filledat the start of the operation and the floor can be scrubbed, dried,waxed and polished without further delay. In addition, because theliquid is directed into the peripheral confines of the rotating brushesthe liquid goes directly to the desired floor areas and there issubstantially no spattering. A considerable saving in time and effort isaccomplished by using the same brushes for scrubbing, applying polishand buifing. Thus the selfcontained apparatus of this invention is totalfloor cleaning tool.

Having described our invention as related to the embodiments shown inthe accompanying drawings, it is our intention that the invention be notlimited by any of the details of description, unless otherwisespecified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scopeas set out in the accompanying claims.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed is defined as follows:

1. A combination floor scrubber and polisher apparatus adapted to bemoved over a floor during use, comprising: a casing having at least onerigid wall; a plurality of containers within said casing separable fromand thus independent of said casing, each container being adapted tocontain a floor treating liquid; 21 filling conduit for each containerextending through said casing wall; means for attaching said fillingconduit to said wall for providing filling access to said container andsimultaneously securing the container to the casing; a dispensingconduit for each container extending through said casing wall; and meansfor attaching said dispensing conduit to said wall for providingdispensing access to said container and simultaneously securing thecontainer to the casing.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein there are provided gravity flowdrain means from the bottom of the casing exteriorly of said containersand a releasable closure for said drain means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein there are provided means forconveying liquid from said floor into the casing exteriorly of saidcontainers between the containers and said casing, said casing comprisesrigid walls and each container comprises flexible and collapsible walls,flow control valve means for each dispensing conduit having operatingportions exteriorly of said casing, and gravity flow drain means fromthe bottom of the casing exteriorly of said containers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,060,484 10/1962 Krammes 15-3203,101,505 8/1963 Belicka et al. 15320 ROBERT W. MICHELL, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 15-5O

